Gators, Tigers suffer heartbreaking losses at state

VERO BEACH - For both Wewahitchka and Chipley softball teams, they endured painful losses Wednesday in the Class 1A state semifinals at Historic Dodgertown.

Both leading going into the bottom of the seventh inning, those leads turned to losses by the end of the game

Wewahitchka fell to three-time 1A state champion Chiefland, 2-1, with sophomore Macie Thomas hitting a two-run single down the left field line with the bases loaded in the Indians’ final at-bat.

Ninety minutes later, Chipley endured a similar fate as top-ranked Union County, down 3-1 going into its final at-bat, scored three runs, two on Devin Lewis’s line drive that bounced off a infielder for a 4-3 victory.

Chiefland and Union County will meet Thursday at 1:35 p.m. in the 1A state final. While the Gators and Tigers try to figure out how they let a state final berth slip through their fingers.

Gators pitcher Brianna Bailey retired the first 14 Chiefland batters and had a perfect game until Samantha Rolfe singled with two outs in the fifth.

Still, Bailey had retired 19 of the first 20 batters heading into the Chiefland seventh, when it fell apart.

Senior Emily Hallman singled to open the inning for the Indians (21-6). Lauren Parker was hit by a pitch and Takiya London singled to load the bases for Thomas.

“Definitely a heartbreaker of a game,” said Wewahitchka coach Judith Husband. “We played well, my pitcher had a perfect game up until the sixth inning. We were on base more than they were. They just came out on top at the end.

“I felt we hit well, they just didn’t fall our way a couple of times. We were on base, we just didn’t capitalize and score enough runs.”

The Gators season ended at 20-8-1.

Price had two of Wewa’s three hits and an RBI in the third, giving the Gators a 1-0 lead.

“I think we did great this season,” said freshman second baseman Aleah Wooten. “That was just a heartbreaking game.

“There were two good teams. It was just a good game.”

Chipley (19-8) scored three runs in the first inning against Union County starter Lexi Androlevich, getting a double from Lauren Finch and an RBI double from Tiffany Lee. Androlevich hit the next three batters and was pulled for Brooke Waters.

Waters gave up just one hit in 6.1 innings of relief.

In the seventh, Union County (22-2) got an RBI single from freshman Kamaya Cohen, a UF commit, and a game-winning, two-run swing from Lewis, a Stetson signee, to end it.

Gilbert, a West Florida signee, finished her season 18-4. She tossed five shutout innings against a team that bats .394, and was three outs from leading her team into the state final. For the game, she scattered seven hits, three coming in the seventh with four strikeouts.

“I was mostly throwing inside curve balls,” Gilbert said. “I think their speed just got to our defense. We just didn’t make the outs we needed to win.

“We played last year and didn’t have any seniors and we didn’t get out of districts. We had basically the same team and one freshman and we were in the final four. I think that was a big step up going from last year.”

Chipley coach Sancher Dickson Jr. said he was proud of his team and credited Union’s response when down to its final outs.

“They were able to get a good, solid hit and able to score two runs,” Dickson said of Lewis’s game-winner. “It was a strong, solid hit that we couldn’t field. It happens in games.

“My whole team did a good job. It came down to a couple of plays here and there. Union County is a very good team. On another day we may have handled it different but today the outcome was in their favor. I am very proud of them.”

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